


who are you really?

by OneSkyOneDestiny



Category: BioShock
Genre: Alternate Canon, Atlas is Not Frank Fontaine, Atlas is Real, Eventual Romance, M/M, References to Drugs
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-04
Updated: 2017-01-22
Packaged: 2018-08-13 00:47:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7955569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OneSkyOneDestiny/pseuds/OneSkyOneDestiny
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack encounters a familiar sounding man in Apollo Square.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. the alliance

**Author's Note:**

> Based on a roleplay by me and SburbanMom. I was Jack, they were Atlas. The dialogue of Atlas was done by them, everything else I have wrote and adapted.  
> Warning, this is gonna end up being really gay lmao.

To say Jack was angry was an understatement. Finding out that his so called guide was actually his deceased father’s rival had been playing him from the start, felt worse than any hit he had taken from a splicer or a big daddy. Even after the little sister’s had taken him to Tenenbaum and she had undone his mental conditioning, he still couldn’t shake Fontaine’s betrayal. Atlas, his movement, his wife, his child, everything was lie. Walking through Apollo Square, he eventually got to “Atlas” headquarters’. Might as well scavenge the place for supplies, it’s not as if Fontaine needs this place anymore, he thought bitterly.  
The majority of the place was empty as expected, except for a few cans of food here and there. Most of Rapture wasn't exactly a gold mine for supplies and in a place of this condition Jack didn't expect to have any luck with finding something of value. He heard the footsteps, a splicer probably, Fontaine wouldn't have bothered to come all this way just to face him. He took out his pistol ready and summoned Electro Bolt getting ready for an incoming attack

"Come out with your hands up, bastard! I won't play games!"

Jack had expected screaming, or the crazed mumbling of a splicer. Instead he heard the familiar Irish accent that he had trusted, filled with rage and aggression. Jack felt his anger rise in him again, why the hell would Fontaine continue to bother acting out his façade. He was stupid to underestimate Jack, he had come this far and wasn't going to be defeated now. Aiming his pistol, he walked cautiously into the next room.

There stood a well built man with a scar-less face and human like features, too human to be splicer. 

The man began looked him up and down as if he was inspecting him. "Well, then, looks like you're really doing well on the ADAM there. I might even wager you've got a little human left in you. Who do you belong to, then? Ryan? Fontaine? Either way, I'd be damned if you didn't recognize me." He spit and rubbed his hands together. "Not sure why I bother puttin' my dukes up, if you're a coward like those two, you'd never give me a fair fight."

Jack tightened his grip on his gun, holding up his other hand ready to strike the other man. He furrowed his brows in confusion hearing the other man talk. He didn't understand what kind of set up this was, this man couldn't be Fontaine could he? It didn't matter, he was sick of being toyed with. Gritting his teeth, he addressed the man before him. “I don't belong to anyone. Give me one reason why I shouldn't shoot you right now."

The man looked at Jack confidently, he blended in here, like he knew the place. Confirming Jack's suspicions he continued to explain his presence. "This here, it's my home. I'm just as lost as you are. Haven't seen this since late '58, and it's been an awful pull up from Persephone. Fontaine liked me down there, but if you're on your own the way you say, you'd like him on the ocean floor just as much as I would."

Jack lowered his gun hesitantly, letting out a shaky sigh. He continued to keep his eyes on man, in case of an attack. From what he could see, the older man was unarmed, even if he put up a good fight Jack could probably put him down then and there. His rough looking appearance looked like he hadn't eaten properly in days. Even this would have been going too far for the conman, Jack was sure it wasn't him. "You're not Fontaine...who the hell are you?"

"You thought I was Fontaine? That ugly son of a bitch couldn't be me if he tried. The name's Atlas. How about you? You got a name, wonder boy? And if that isn't the question- how are you alive? Somehow managing to stay off the ADAM?" Atlas rolled up his sleeves and stood up straight. "In case you're looking for supplies, you won't find much- Fontaine funded me for a while, before he decided that he wanted in. How he managed to take control, it beats me, but he did it."

Jack's eyes widened in shock at man, Atlas wasn't real, he was one of the many characters Fontaine had used for his sick games wasn't he? Maybe the ADAM was messing with him again, he had been seeing things, hearing things he knew were not there. After everything that had happened Jack wasn't sure what to believe anymore, he was scared he was becoming just as spliced up as Fontaine and Ryan's men. The girls were the only thing that separated him from them. Jack held onto the nearby wall to steady himself. "You're not real, you can't be... Fontaine he-he made all of this."

"You alright, boyo? A bit weak in the knees? I can promise you, I've got no interest in helpin' that bastard. You lock a man up at the bottom of the ocean for tryin' to help a few lost souls, you can't have a heart. What did he do to you?"

Jack looked down at the rusted floorboards trying to process the situation. If Atlas was real, Fontaine must have been using both of them as tools in his game from the start. That was the only thing that made sense at this point. "You mean you don't know? He's been using your identity since I got stuck down here."

The man's face hardened at that, both of them seemed to share a mutual hatred for the man that had so easily played them. "You're telling me that- that that ugly rat has been paradin' around wearin' my face like a party favor? Oh, this is too much. Just when you think a man can't do you any more wrong." Jack felt a calloused hand touch his own, looking up at the man now he could see the spirit and fire in his eyes that he always imagined Atlas would have when they finally met in person. He gripped onto it, steadying himself back into an upright position. Atlas was real, he was here and Jack felt more reassured about escaping Rapture than he had in days. 

"Come on, boyo, we've got work to do."


	2. the puppet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack explains his past. An unwelcome visitor interrupts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for abandoning this for a few months. Life is rough.

"Come on, boyo, we've got work to do."

Jack looked back up at the man, steadying himself. Atlas was real and he was just a vengeful towards Fontaine as Jack was, if not more. Both of them had been played without knowing it. He looked around at the torn down building, at the defaced poster of his father- no of Andrew Ryan. "Ryan's dead. I killed him. And now Fontaine has this hell hole just like he wanted." He spoke in flat tone.

"You killed Ryan?" The man looked at him with some sick sort of glee, Jack could clearly hear the content in his voice at the news of Andrew Ryan's death. But it wasn't enough though, he wanted answers for what Fontaine had done and who Jack was, what he was. 

"You know, for someone so skeptical of a man with nothing but his fists, you haven't told me much about yourself. What's your name?"

After all that had happened Atlas deserved that at least. Jack looked away from the man, suddenly feeling shame over his newly founded heritage. He didn't know what was worse at this point, being Andrew Ryan's illegitimate son or being Fontaine's experiment. "My name's Jack- Jack Ryan."

"Ryan? So you're related to the man himself, question is by blood or sad coincidence?" Atlas laughed a little and dug through the rubble for a moment before he managed to find a twisted piece of metal railing. "This'll do."

Jack was expecting resentment from the man, instead he was met with the charismatic humor Fontaine had portrayed Atlas with so well. "Both, I guess. I didn't know myself until a few hours ago." He felt confident enough to speak directly to Atlas again, walking closer to the man. "I don't think a rusty piece of metal is enough to take down Fontaine and his splicers. Hold onto this at least. I have more." He encouraged holding out the pistol.

Atlas seemed relieved at the offer and took it barrel-first from the others outstretched palm. "Bit of a shock, then. A few hours ago, huh? So you weren't raised by him. How'd you get down here? Seems like all ships coming in stopped a while back, but what do I know. Could be a final thing leaving port, or something like that."

Jack sat down on one of battered chairs, trying to figure out how to explain such a messed up situation. Even though he knew he couldn't have prevented Fontaine's actions, he still felt ashamed for being used so easily. Yet apart from Tenenbaum, Atlas was the only one he could talk to down here. Better yet, unlike her he wasn't responsible for what Jack had came to be. "I can't remember everything. Only that Fontaine's scientists raised me to kill Ryan. That's why he took your identity, so I would sympathize with him."

"That sounds like a bit of a tricky situation." Atlas replied gently, furrowing his brow. "You're a bit of a puppet, then. You've been well-worn by both the warring gods. But if anything, that makes two of us." Atlas stepped over to lay a supportive hand on Jack's shoulder. "Around me, though, you can just be Jack. And I'll be Atlas. And we'll kill the bastards who did it to ya in the first place." 

Jack couldn't help but lean into Atlas' touch, it felt so nice to have some sort of affection towards him, even if it was only subtle. He wondered what it would be like to finally meet Atlas in the flesh, he had turned out to be as good as Jack expected him to be. He had only known the man a few minutes, despite building up some grand version of him in his head. He felt relief wash over him that he wouldn't have to face Fontaine alone. He clenched his fists. "Yeah, we will."

"If you need to take a break, you should. There's not much use fighting Fontaine on an empty system, of course, but it's up to you. I don't know what brought you here, besides Fontaine, of course, but it did well. Sometimes even hell needs a few guardian angels."

Jack gave a small smile at that, compliments were unfamiliar to him but definitely not unwelcome. Still he felt slightly uneasy in Atlas' presence, he couldn't deny his feelings that had been building up towards the man. But at the same time it was confusing, he felt like he had known Atlas for days. When in reality he barely knew the man at all. "If you think so. But there isn't anywhere safe to rest around here, is there?"

"Nowhere safe, but I can let us into one of the deadlocked rooms. I'm feeling alright, I can take on a watch if you need to kick back a bit. Some of the food rations might still be around here." Atlas straightened back up and tucked the pistol under his belt. "If there's ever a good time to fuel up, it's now. I built this place with my own two hands, and I know it like the back of them."

Jack was about to speak when static buzzed from the short wave radio on his hip. 'c'mon kid, are you dead or what? I thought you'd be running around for mother goose right about now. why don't we settle this like men, huh?'


End file.
